Symphony Orchestra Concert Review Essay

Music is virtually everywhere we go, no matter if it is background noise in a coffee shop or singing along while shopping for groceries, we can find music somewhere. The event I attended was the Flint Symphony Orchestra on October 8, 2016. I have never attended a symphony before so I was excited to go, especially since I had invited my friend to attend with me. For this event, I was already informed by my teacher that the symphony will be formal so we needed to look the part since others will be dressed fancy. This made me curious how this event will turn out. Walking past the ticket area and through the doors to the lobby made me feel instantly memorized at how grand it was on the inside. I went downstairs and there were a vast

number of people there waiting for the performance to begin. After getting lost to find our seats and eventually having help, we were sat at the lower left balcony where every you look were people in seats. After getting comfortable in our slanted chairs, the performance soon begun as the spotlight was on the stage so that all the members were shown. Eventually we were lead into the first piece.
A symphony is something everyone should experience at least once or try to, it is interesting with all the elements that go into putting one together.

The music of course was the main focus and for me I really enjoyed The fountains of Rome. This piece was near the end but I found myself to really enjoy The Fountains of the valle Giulia at Dawn which opened up with an oboe, and sounded like I was right near a fountain in the morning. Birds were chirping as the day started with a beautiful peaking of the sun beginning. The Triton Fountain in the Morning had an interesting beginning that started off with a high pitch. At first the horn frightened me but it set the tone with the violins mixed with some sort of symbol as if we were jumping right into the morning. It contained so much excitement in it, like a bursting ray of emotion. However, I did dislike one piece due to it contrasting too much to my favorite piece of the symphony. From The Pines of the Villa Borghese it came at me like a sudden rush, it abruptly ruined the subtle calm feeling I was experiencing too quickly and made it feel like I had an orchestra chasing after me. My favorite piece from the symphony was The Fountain of Rome was La fontana di villa Medici al tramonto. This one particularly caught my interest because it felt like it tied everything together by stringing emotion along. The entire songs presence was calming and subtle as everything was slowed down with a softer dynamic. What really drew me in was

how the sound of church bells were used to tell us that is was time to go and the piece was ending. Classical music has always been something that interest me, I just like to listen to it instead of focusing on certain points though. Listening to the symphony reminded me of older style cartoons or video games that use orchestras within them. The classic Tom and Jerry was my brother and I’s favorite to watch because we enjoyed the cartoon violence of course, but as well the music that drew us in. The musical cues were my favorite to look for because if the music started to pick up by becoming loud and energized, we knew Tom the Cat was about to go after Jerry the Mouse. Even so this is not the only example this can be used, theater and musicals also use musical cues to signify changes in either a subtle or dramatic way. Listening to this symphony made me really think about how anything can be accompanied by music, but since we usually become focused on the visual aspect we do not get to truly appreciate the music that is leading us.
Attending the symphony was a completely new experience for me to enjoy. I honestly loved it all because of the instruments, the preparation and devotion that went into the music for us to be entertained with. The art of music is often combined with visual effects, but if we truly standby and just listen to what is being played then we can understand and form an opinion on what we heard. I learned that classical music varies on person, some people enjoy this art while others may not like it. As well, we can take music wherever we go and connect it with endless possibilities.